Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
In 2024, Gallup reported that low worker engagement is costing U.S. corporations an estimated $1.9 trillion in misplaced productiveness. The message is obvious: The way you have interaction your staff is not nearly morale — it is about efficiency, retention and long-term progress.
Early in my profession, I did not assume a lot about employee engagement. To be trustworthy, I did not count on a lot from my employers both. My mindset was easy: Work laborious, ship outcomes, receives a commission, get promoted. That was the implicit contract. Effort and time in trade for cash and energy. It was the Nineteen Nineties, and that was thought-about regular, particularly on this planet of enterprise software program gross sales.
There is a well-known line from Mad Males the place Don Draper responds to a subordinate’s request for appreciation with: “That is what the cash is for.” It captures a sure mindset of management — outcomes over relationships, management over connection.
I lived that mindset for years.
However over time, as I rose by way of the ranks and led bigger groups, I began to note one thing: I used to be not motivated simply by cash. Throughout my years at Citrix, the motto, per our CEO Mark Templeton, turned: “Work laborious, play laborious, get outcomes and have enjoyable doing it.” I wished to benefit from the work, study one thing new, really feel valued and snicker with my teammates. And though I all the time gave 100% — even when these issues have been lacking — I started to comprehend that not everyone seems to be wired the identical. Nor ought to they be.
Associated: Top 10 Employee Engagement Strategies That Matter
The turning level
My first CEO position at getAbstract was a recreation changer. Abruptly, I used to be accountable not only for outcomes, however for culture. We bought a product that gave corporations entry to over 14,000 curated enterprise e-book summaries, together with one of the best pondering on management and organizational effectiveness. Folks like Simon Sinek, Lisa McLeod, Ken Blanchard, Mark Miller, Stephen M.R. Covey and plenty of extra have turn into common voices in our work and conversations.
As well as, our shoppers, principally (workplaces of the) CHROs at giant firms, put our answer to work inside their unimaginable organizations. Being surrounded by wonderful content material, prospects, cultures and colleagues turns into my model of a sophisticated research in human conduct at work.
By means of this, one thing clicked: The perfect leaders do not simply lead for outcomes; they lead with purpose, that means and repair.
I turned intellectually curious. I started testing what I used to be studying — main with gratitude, aligning round function, creating house for constructive feedback and progress. And the outcomes? Staff confirmed up with extra ardour. Clients seen the power. Gross sales grew. Revenue adopted.
What began as concept became follow. Follow became perception. Perception became who I’m as a pacesetter.
Associated: The Key to Employee Engagement Is Purpose. Here’s Why — and How to Foster It in Your Workplace.
Engagement is a enterprise technique
Too many leaders nonetheless consider engagement as a “nice-to-have” — a comfortable ability or HR metric that does not immediately hook up with the underside line. I do know as a result of I was certainly one of them.
However this is what I’ve realized: Engagement just isn’t fluff. It is a strategic lever for enterprise progress.
When workers really feel seen, heard, challenged and appreciated, they create what I name discretionary effort — that additional power and initiative that may’t be purchased, solely impressed. And while you create worth past wage — by way of recognition, function, studying and belonging — folks aren’t always wanting elsewhere for extra. One other means to consider it: Engagement is what makes folks truly sit up for Monday.
As MD Rafi, founder and CEO of Bison Life, instructed me in an interview: “We began treating tradition like a product — one thing to design, construct and iterate. It was not about preserving folks comfortable. It was about serving to them develop, take possession and really feel important to the mission.”
Engaged groups innovate extra. They promote extra. They keep longer. They entice nice expertise. They deal with the corporate like an owner would. It is not simply the suitable factor to do; it is the good factor to do.
Investing in profession improvement is not simply good for morale — it is a measurable enterprise benefit. A 2025 report from LinkedIn Studying discovered that corporations with sturdy inside mobility and progress applications expertise increased engagement, extra inside promotions and stronger management pipelines. With 88% of organizations now citing retention as a essential concern, supporting worker improvement has turn into a high precedence for leaders who wish to hold their finest folks.
The flywheel of genuine management
Right this moment, my staff and I coach leaders by way of this similar evolution. At first, we assist them see that engagement is a driver of efficiency. Then I encourage them to strive it — lead with extra function, invest in their people and construct a tradition of that means. They typically see a right away elevate. Folks reply.
After which one thing fantastic occurs: They begin to like the way in which it makes them really feel; good! Not simply the enterprise outcomes, however the power, connection and private success that come from main effectively.
What started as an experiment turns into a behavior. A brand new management type emerges — one which’s not simply efficient however genuine. And that authenticity creates a flywheel of belief, ardour and efficiency. We see this on a regular basis at nice corporations we work with.
Restaurant Manufacturers Worldwide (RBI), the father or mother firm of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, prioritizes a tradition that cares for its staff members so it will probably translate into nice customer experiences and enterprise efficiency. Jeff Housman, RBI’s Chief Folks & Providers Officer, emphasizes this connection: “Our tradition is constructed round hard-working, good individuals who care deeply about one another and the company we serve. When our staff members really feel supported and valued, they create that very same care to each buyer interplay, making a cycle of positivity that drives our success.”
Freeman, one of many world’s main dwell occasion and model expertise corporations, exemplifies this strategy. Acknowledged twice as a Prime Workplaces USA winner in 2024 and 2025 amongst giant employers, Freeman’s dedication to embedding function and innovation into its tradition has earned it a number of awards, together with honors for Management, Work-Life Flexibility and Function & Values.
Chair of the Board Carrie Freeman Parsons captures this ethos, stating, “It has been my lifelong expertise that occasions join folks in ways in which go away them extra impressed, higher knowledgeable and higher ready for what lies forward.” This values-driven mannequin has been widely known as a catalyst for worker engagement and long-term retention — demonstrating how function, when embedded into each day operations, can form a resilient and motivated workforce.
Associated: 6 Employee Engagement Tips for Strong Retention
If you happen to’re a pacesetter who’s nonetheless caught within the previous mindset — for those who’re pondering, “That is what the cash is for” — I encourage you to strive one thing new. Lead with function. Begin with why. See how folks reply. Watch what occurs to your tradition, your prospects and your organization.
You is perhaps stunned by how nice it feels. And much more stunned by the outcomes.
